Kids and parents dealing with new school lunch rules

Monday

Nov 19, 2012 at 7:12 PMNov 19, 2012 at 7:15 PM

USDA rules focus on vegetables, whole grains

Dave Clarke

Have the kids been more anxious than usual this year to know what you’re having for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday?It might be because they’ve been “eating healthy” at school and — by the way, they’re not too happy about it.This is the first year school lunch programs have been required to comply with the Health Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 and, in most schools, students aren’t happy with the change. Daily lunch counts are down by about 80 students at Wethersfield and cafeteria staff have been taking the heat from students, and parents, alike. The USDA updated school meal nutrition standards to supposedly reflect the most current dietary science. The last update was over 15 years ago. Implementation of the new meal pattern was July 1. Sherri Matuszyk, cafeteria supervisor at Wethersfield, said it’s not something they did arbitrarily, or by choice.“Our cafeteria ladies work hard every day to provide nutritious, balanced…and tasty meals,” said Supt. Shane Kazubowski. But he pointed out that they must now follow new government guidelines put in place to insure that students in kindergarten through seniors in high school eat more healthy meals.To that end, more vegetables, fruits and whole grain are factored into what they are required to serve.The main entrees on Mrs. Matuszyk’s daily menu planner don’t sound too bad — baked ham, macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza and popcorn chicken. But your hamburgers, sloppy joes and chicken patties are now served on whole grain buns. Turkey corn dogs are still on the menu, but now made with whole grain. When it comes to fruits and veggies, students have age-appropriate options — apple sauce or orange slices, green beans or cherry tomatoes, celery sticks or spinach, sliced cucumbers of strawberries. All are seved in measured cups and the sum total of all selections cannot exceed a specified calorie count.One high school student was denied an extra packet of ketchup because it would have exceeded her allowed caloric limit.“In short, we have increased the availability of fruits for grades 9-12, and increased the availability of vegetables for K-12,” said Matuszyk. “We now offer more whole grains, reduced sodium, saturated fat and no trans fat in meals.” Portion sizes must be designed according to student needs in three grade categories:- Grades 9-12 a minimum of 750 to a maximum of 850 calories.- Grades 6-8 at 700-800 calories.- Grades K-5 at 550-650 calories. All need to meet the weekly average of the minimum and maximum calories. At least two milk options must be offered, with flavored being fat free and unflavored at one percent. The vegetables offered are from a five-vegetable subgroup and require a minimum daily and weekly amount from each of the five. Subgroups include dark green such as spinach, romaine, broccoli, collard greens, and bok choy; red orange such as carrots, squash, tomatoes and sweet potatoes; legumes such as black beans, lentils, kidney, garbanzo, and pinto; starchy such as corn, white potatoes, cassava and water chestnuts; and other vegetables such as asparagus, beets, brussles sprouts, celery and cucumbers. Schools are now limited on the amount of meat and meat alternates they may serve each week.“We had already taken some small steps last year by introducing some of the subgroup vegetables and more whole grains to make the transition easier this year,” said Matuszyk.“Parents should be relieved to know that students are getting a healthier meal at the school cafeteria with healthy whole grain products, variety of fresh vegetables and fruits, taking some of the worry that parents may have if a non-healthy food choice is made later that day and he or she has already eaten some healthy foods at school,” she said.The food service staff that preps, cooks, and serves the students their hot lunch meals are using more vegetables as the students are learning to like and tolerate them. One of the cafeteria servers said she has noticed that more students are choosing to take the fresh spinach leaves when they are offered compared to the previous month.“The cafeteria staff does a great job of encouraging students to try something new and to provide information on the food items. The students are slowly starting to eat the vegetables offered, but students in the lower elementary are still trying to figure out what they prefer. The high school and junior high levels are much more aware of what they like as they are exposed more to legumes and green leafy vegetables and other subgroups,” said Matuszyk.New items are also being added to the menu. This month, chicken alfredo, enchiladas, toasted ham and cheese on goldfish-shaped bread and at least one new vegetable, squash, are making the cafeteria meals more interesting, and appealing.Matuszyk has also visited classrooms in all grades and sent out information explaining the new meal patterns. Student feedback on favorites and dislikes help plan future menus.Elementary teachers gave students extra education on some of the different vegetables and used the Internet to download pictures and nutritional information.“It gives the students some ownership to be included in the menu planning,” said Matuszyk. “I may not be able to menu all requests, but I will certainly do my best to honor some requests.”Fifth grader Gabby Perez said she likes the healthier options and loves the veggies. “I eat hot lunch often and the food service staff are nice to me and the other students,” she said.Alecsandro Arrieta, a third grader, said he tasted some different vegetable that “looked like a mini cabbage thingie” and “it was OK.” He had another and “it was really good.” He said he has even tried asparagus. Another third grader, Corbin Hodge, said he didn’t know what fresh spinach was until he tried it in the cafeteria. He said he now knows what it is and likes it.The new requirements are giving children more balanced meals and healthy food choices at school that are not always available at home with today’s busy families.At Wethersfield, students also have the option of bringing a sack lunch from home, and those who meet academic and disciplinary requirements are allowed to go off campus for lunch at one of several nearby restaurants. Kazubowski said as students become accustomed to the new menus, and as cold weather sets in, daily lunch counts will hopefully rise to near previous levels in the months ahead.Mom or dad can sternly order kids to “eat your vegetables,” sometimes followed by a promised punishment like being grounded for non-compliance. The food service staff at school has to use gentler forms of persuasion.“We’ve become lunch teachers,” said Matuszyk.